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The rhizospheres of traditional medicinal plants in Panxi, China, host a diverse selection of actinobacteria with antimicrobial properties

  • Applied microbial and cell physiology
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Abstract

Actinobacteria are a prolific source of antibiotics. Since the rate of discovery of novel antibiotics is decreasing, actinobacteria from unique environments need to be explored. In particular, actinobacterial biocontrol strains from medicinal plants need to be studied as they can be a source of potent antibiotics. We combined culture-dependent and culture-independent methods in analyzing the actinobacterial diversity in the rhizosphere of seven traditional medicinal plant species from Panxi, China, and assessed the antimicrobial activity of the isolates. Each of the plant species hosted a unique set of actinobacterial strains. Out of the 64 morphologically distinct isolates, half were Streptomyces sp., eight were Micromonospora sp., and the rest were members of 18 actinobacterial genera. In particular, Ainsliaea henryi Diels. hosted a diverse selection of actinobacteria, although the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequence identity ranges of the isolates and of the 16S rRNA gene clone library were not congruent. In the clone library, 40% of the sequences were related to uncultured actinobacteria, emphasizing the need to develop isolation methods to assess the full potential of the actinobacteria. All Streptomyces isolates showed antimicrobial activity. While the antimicrobial activities of the rare actinobacteria were limited, the growth of Escherichia coli, Verticillium dahliae, and Fusarium oxysporum were inhibited only by rare actinobacteria, and strains related to Saccharopolyspora shandongensis and Streptosporangium roseum showed broad antimicrobial activity.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the foundation of National Science Program of China (Project no. 30570062) and Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology International Cooperative Project. We sincerely acknowledge kind support from the Key Laboratory of Protection and Utilization of Biological Resources, Tarim University and Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, The Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, when our laboratory was damaged by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, College of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Sichuan Agricultural University, Yaan, 625000, People’s Republic of China

    Ke Zhao, Qiang Chen, Tongwei Guan, Xiaoling Ao & Xiaoping Zhang

  2. Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Petri Penttinen & Kristina Lindström

  3. Key Laboratory of Protection and Utilization of Biological Resources in Tarim Basin of Xinjiang Production & Construction Corps, Tarim University, Alar, 843300, People’s Republic of China

    Tongwei Guan & Lili Zhang

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  1. Ke Zhao
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  2. Petri Penttinen
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  3. Qiang Chen
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  4. Tongwei Guan
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  6. Xiaoling Ao
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  7. Lili Zhang
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  8. Xiaoping Zhang
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Correspondence to Xiaoping Zhang.

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Table S1

The isolation media of actinobacteria in this study (DOC 39 kb)

Table S2

Actinobacterial strains isolated in this study. Sixty-four morphologically distinct isolates were divided into 12 phenotypic groups. The 16S rDNA genes of all the isolates in phenotypic groups 1–5 and 9–12, considered as putative rare actinobacteria, and of the representative isolates in groups 6–8, considered as putative Streptomyces isolates (DOC 77 kb)

Table S3

The sequencing results of actinobacterial isolates in Fig. 6 (DOC 36 kb)

Fig. S1

Location of the Panxi plateau and the sampling sites (DOC 68 kb)

Fig. S2

The medicinal plants used in this study (DOC 5061 kb)

Fig. S3

The average actinobacterial CFU obtained from different media (DOC 47 kb)

Fig. S4

The actinobacterial CFU obtained from each of the medicinal plants with different pretreatment methods (DOC 49 kb)

Fig. S5

Actinobacterial colonies from Ainsliaea henryi Diels rhizosphere (DOC 104 kb)

Fig. S6

Actinobactierial colonies from Ainsliaea henryi Diels rhizosphere on medium after different pre-treatments (DOC 81 kb)

Fig. S7

Morphology of actinobacteria isolated from rhizospheric soil of medicinal plants (DOC 149 kb)

Fig. S8

Rarefaction curve for Ainsliaea henryi rhizosphere actinobacterial 16S rDNA clone library (DOC 40 kb)

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Zhao, K., Penttinen, P., Chen, Q. et al. The rhizospheres of traditional medicinal plants in Panxi, China, host a diverse selection of actinobacteria with antimicrobial properties. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 94, 1321–1335 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-011-3862-6

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